Sports bottles have become commonplace and are used for carrying water or other comestible fluids, such as juices, sports drinks and the like, for use by athletes, spectators, and persons generally at athletic or social events. Such drink bottles come in a wide variety of conformations and sizes. Differing materials can also be used for such sports bottles, however they tend to share one basic characteristic. Sports bottles and other drink bottles are generally made of a resilient material which can be squeezed by a user to force comestible fluid from the interior of the bottle into the mouth of the user. This is conventionally done through a nipple, spigot or spout which frequently has a tap, a cap or valve associated therewith.
In operation, the sports bottle is squeezed and liquid is displaced in one of two general ways. Either fluid is displaced through a tube arrangement reaching to the bottom of the bottle and, thus, is ejected through a protruding spout while the bottle is generally upright, or the bottle is inverted, squeezed, and the liquid expelled through an opening or tube disposed in the top of the bottle. In either configuration, a spout or tube is generally present through which the liquid emerges.
There is a tendency of a user of the bottle to place his or her lips at the site, the tube or spout, where the liquid is dispensed. Such persons may also draw a vacuum on the tube or spout and suck liquid from the container. This gives rise to "refluxing", whereby material which has been in the mouth of a user is introduced into the container. The resulting condition is unsanitary. The tendency of a user to place his or her lips upon prior drink containers in use becomes a particular problem when such containers are shared by a number of individuals. This commonly occurs during team sports when sports bottles are "passed around" among members of the team. The potential for transmission of disease is great and this etiology is often implicated in such spread.
Accordingly, there is a great need for sports bottles and other drink containers which avoid the likelihood that individuals will place their lips upon the location where fluid is ejected so as to avoid cross contamination, the spread of disease, and reflux. It is greatly desired that such improvements not interfere with the basic design of drink bottles, that the same be capable of easy fabrication, that they be aesthetically attractive, and that they be able to be formed from sanitary materials. The present invention is directed to achieving these objectives .